of Claim 1. With this installation, the labels are enclosed on
2 three sides. That is to say, if the insertion in carried out vertically, the labels are supported at the top and partially at the sides. During insertion, only the point of the label extends beyond the insertion element. This installation S functions well in the case of insertion into relatively soft substrates.
if the substrates are harder, there is a risk that the label is not sufficiently rigid and bonds during insertion. in order to prevent this problem it is proposed to make a rib an the label, as a result of which this problem is indeed solved, but, on the other hand# the cost price Is increased.
In the installation according to this us patent, the plane of the information carrier in perpendicular to the direction of movement of the substrates moving below it. This has the advantag that the installation according to the US patent taken up relatively little space. A disadvantage, however, in that it was very difficult to remove this Installation and that the set-up has little flexibility. A more significant disadvantage is that it has not proved possible to provide the substra- tes with labels at relatively high speed. Xt has been found neceseary to stop the substrates at the point in time when the labels are inserted.
The aim of the present invention is to overcome the disadvantages described above and to provide a method with which the labels can be inserted even into substrates in which it in difficult to make an openinqp without said labels having to be radically modified.
This aim is achieved in the case of a method described above in that, during insertion, the information carrier is 3 supported over at least the entire length (viewed in the direction of insertion) to beyond the free Insertion end, and said support is removed from the substrate following the insertion.
According to the invention, the formation of the opening for the label is achieved not only by the label itself but also by an insertion element which extends over the full length of the label. This (metallic) insertion element is subjected to little hindrance by the compactness of the substrate material, whether the degree of compactness in relatively high or relatively low.
Surprisingly? it has been found that there is no risk of the label becoming detached from the insertion element. This in probably due to the fact that it is precisely when it comes into contact with the substrate material that the label presses against the insertion element.
According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the information carriers are placed in a series of substrates, the information carrier being a flat component and the plane of the information carrier being essentially parallel to the direction of movement of the substrates.
On the one hand, as a result of the presence of the insertion element it in possible to make opening& in substrates at high speed without constructing the labels in a particular manner. moreover, as a result of the chosen method of insertion some longitudinal displacement of the substrates with respect to the insertion element or label during insertion is possible. That is to say, it in not necessary to stop the movement of the substrates. It has proved possible, using the installation 4 according to the Invention, tO Place UP tO two 110 per second In a substrata. Thin speed Of Placement has bean observed with Insertion of labels one at a time.
^o indicated abov# the Information carrier in no longer used to produce an opening itself; Instead this opening in essentially made by a separate mechanical aid which In used repeatedly. The Information carrier In placed in the substrate at the same tIme an the Insertion In mad.
This implies that the requirements Imposed on the Infor- 11) mation carrier are appreciably less stringent than In the case of installations with which the Information carrier has to produce an vipening on Its own.
Thuso in principle it Is no longer necessary for the information carrier to be provided with a sharp point. More- is overe the wall thickness thereof can be reduced because no rigidity in needed to produce the opening. of course, the wall thickness munt be such that the Information carrier generally remains upright during use. The method according to the invention con be applied in various locations. The potting machine and the 6ownstream conveyor may be mentioned by way of example.
The invention also relates to an installation for placing Information carriers in a substratep such as the #oil of pot plants, comprising a magazine# arranged on a frame. for as information carrirop an well an means for auccessive placing of said information carriers one by one In the substrata, comprising an insertion element which Is movable up and down with respect to the frame in order to make an opening in the substrata, as well as carrier &cans for placing an information carrier in the substrate when an opening in the latter is made.
According to the Invention,, with this arrangement the length of the insertion element is such that thin element supports the information carrier over the entire length (viewed in the direction of insertion). in order to optimise the production of an opening in the substrate, the insertion element can be provided with a pointed free and.
The abovementioned carrier means can comprise all constructions disclosed in the art. For instance, it is possible to carry along the information carriers by means of vacuum or on the basis of static proportion.
in view of the difficult conditions under which work in carried outo with a great deal of dust# earth and the liket it is, however, preferred that said carrier means comprise a is carrier projection arranged on the insertion body. such a carrier projection moves the information carrier Into the substrate together with the insertion element.
The important feature is thatt on the one hand, it is ensured that the information carrier Is moved into the substrate together with the insertion element but, on the other hand, remains behind In said substrate whilst the Insertion element is withdrawn from' the substrate for a subsequent operation. In the light of the above It in important for the Information carrier to be kept pressed an fully as possible 23 against the insertion lament during insertion. This can be achieved using the means described above, much an air and/or vacuum. Similarly, it is possible to arrange guide meant facing the insertion element, so that the information carrier Is moved between the insertion element and the guide means. With this 6 arrangement It In important that the guide =cans are of such constructicm that tho information carrier to not enclosed andlor doe& not boom jammed. Furthermore,, the friction between the guide means and the Information carriers must be as low an possible. One, way to comply with this requirement Is that in which the guide means comprise two chamfered parts located some distance apart. the gap between this chamfered parts being anallar than the width of the information carrier. By this means, optimum transport and anclocuro of the informs- tion carriers In provided.
The invention also relates to an assembly comprising an installation an described above, an well as a conveyor for substratenj wherein the plane of the insertion element In arranged essentially parallel to the direction of movement of ths conveyor.
With this arrangement, various installations of the type described above arranged alongside one another can he placed transversely across the conveyor.
The invention will be explained in note detail below with reference to an Illustrative elment shown in the drawing.
in the drawing: wig. 1 shown# diagramiticallyo a partially exposed side view of the installation according to the invention In combination with a conveyor provided with pot plants; 25 rig. 2 shown a detail, partially in croon-section, of the installation according to Fig. 1; Fig. 3 shows a cross-section along the line Ill-111 in Fig. 2; rig. 4 show& a detail of the guide plate shown in Figures 7 3, and Fig. 5 shows a detail of the insertion plate shotm in Irigures 1-3.
In the f igurom, the installation according to the invention 5 in indicated in its entirety by the reference numeral 1.
It can be seen from Fig. I that this installation in fixed to a frame 2. which is not defined in more detail and which is firmly connected to the frame of the conveyor installation for pot plantxj of which the installation forms part. A conveyor bolt 3 forming part of this conveyor Inmtallation Is shownr on which bolt pot plants 4 are arranged and which moves in the direction of arrow S. Information carriers 6 have to be placed in this pot plants 4.
The installation according to the invention is provided with an arm 7 which also functions as a magazine for the information carriers 6t as can be seen from Figs I and 2. To this end a pressure plate 20 is provided and, with the aid of a spring 10, this pressure plate 20 is continually driven towards the right in Fig. 2. The magazine can contain a large number of information carrierst depending an the thickness of the information carriers and the length thereof. Even a relatively small magazine can contain 1,600 information carriers. Installation 1 is, moreoverv provided with a pneumatic cylinder 9 with piston rod 11. In & manner which in not shown in more detail, the pneumatic cylinder 9 can be operated so an to move piston rod 11 up and down. Piston rod 11 in connected to an insertion plate 12. Insertion plate 12 is a relatively hard (steel) component provided with a pointed and. This is shown in Fig. 31 in which two positions of the inner- a tion plate with the information carrier are also shown.
The Insertion plate 12 In provided with a carrier projoc. tion 13 which has a height such that an inforaaticm carrier can be accommodated within the recess thus delimited In the lower section of insertion plate 12.
insertion plate 12 is guided through guide rollers 14 and, 15,, an Is shown in rig. 2 and the lower guide roller 15 of which has been omitted In Fig. 1 for the cake of clarity.
insertion plate 12 Is shcown in detail in rig. 5.
A guide plate 16 In arranged below the magazine for the information carriers. An can be seen from rig. 4, this guide plate I provided with two chamfered surfaces 17. between which the Information carrier 6 (shown In dotted lines) is accomax)dated. An a result of, on the one hand, the convex design of the receiving area in the insertion plate and, on the other hand, the double chamfering of the guide plate 16, it In ensured that the Information carriers are pressed under some pretension against the insertion plate 12 but. on the other handi that the friction Is not so high that, @specially when the Insertion plate 12 In withdrawn, the Information carrier In also withdrawn. This is furthermore counteracted in that the information carrier in made somewhat broader with regard to the section inserted Into the soil of the pet plant than In the insertion plate Itself. That Is to say# a minor portion of the opening must be made by the Information carrier Itself.
The installation described above functions as follows:
if a pot plant has to he provided with an Information carrier and has been placed in the correct position beneath the Installation 1 according to the Invention, which can be 9 achieved using detection moan& which are not shown In worm detail, the piston rod 11, which is in the upper position, in actuated with the aid of cylinder 9 and moved downward&. An Information carrier is carried along by means of ridge 13, the top of quide plate 16 preventing more than one Information carrier being moved downwards. it can be scan that the information carrier fits nearly congruently on the insertion plate 12. An opening is made in the aubstrats of the pot plant by the pointed end of insertion plate 12, Into which opening the information carrier 6 Is placed at the same time. M can be &con from rig. 3, the final portion of the Information carrier which Is introduced Into the soil of the pot plant In somewhat broader than the Insertion plat. but because an opening has already been formed in the &oils relatively little force will have to be transmitted via projection 13 to the Information carrier 6 in order to achieve f urther transport of the Information carrier 6.
An a result of the combination of the relatively narrow design of the Insertion plate 12 and guide plate 16# the information carrier 6 will rmain behind in the pot plant when the piston rod 11 in retracted after the deepest point has been reached.
it has been found that It in not necessary to stop the movement of the conveyor belt 3 during insertion and withdrawal of the Insertion plate 12, oven at a speed of 5, 000 pot plants per hour, As a result of the construction used here, it In possible to make the inforanation carrier thinner.
Furthe=ore# it In possible, by using on# or more instal lations according to the Inventiont to Opt for placement or non-placement of information carriers or for placement of different Information carriera, an desired.
Although basicly It Is possible to use information carriers without a point# this In often not desirable because the and user removes the Information carrier to read the Information given on It and then wants to insert the Info=ation carrier again without the installation according to the invention.
The construction of Insertion plate 12. carrier projection 13 and supply mean which has been described above. makes It possible in a simple manner to process labels of different sizes. The adjustments necessary for this purpose are relativatly slight c=pared with those needed for the constructions known from the prior art.
is Although the invention has been described abo v& with reference to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that numerous modifications are possible which Lic within the scope of the appended claims. Por ins tance, it is possible to hold the information carrier on the insertion plate using vacuum or compressed air.
11 Claims 1. Method for inserting information carriers into a substrate, such as inserting label into pot plants,, comprising the mechanical removal of an Information carrier from a stack, gripping of said information carrier and insertion thereof Into a substrate# characterised in that during insertion, the information carrier is supported over at least the entire length (viewed in the direction of Insertion) to beyond the free insertion end, and said support is removed from the substrate following the insertion.
2. Method according to Claim 1, wherein the Information carriers are arranged in a series of substrates, the information carrier being a flat comp=ent and the plans of the information carrier being essentially parallel to the direction of movement of the substrates.
3. installation for placing information carriers in a substratel such an the soil of pot plants# comprising a magazine arranged on a f rame for information car- riers, as well an means for successive insertion of said information carriers one by one in the substrate, comprising an insertion element which in movable up and down with respect to the frame in order to make an opening in the substrate, as well an carrier means for placing an information 23 carrier in the substrate when making an opening in the latter, characterized in that the length of the insertion element is such that said element supports the information carrier over the entire length (viewed in the direction of insertion).
4. installation according to Claim 3, wherein the insertion 12 element in provided with & pointed free and.
& Installation according to Claims 3 and 4 g whcreln &aid carrier means comprise a carrier projection arranged on the Insertion element.
6. installation according to one of claims 3-st comprising pressure means to press the information carrier against the carrier means.
7. installation according to Claim 6# wherein said pressure means comprise guide means for maid information carrier, having two chamfered parts located come distance apart, wherein the gap between said chamfered parts In smaller than the width of the information carrier.
8. Assembly comprising an installation according to one of Claims 3-7p as well an a conveyor for substratese characterized In that the plane of the insertion element to arranged essentially parallel to the direction of movement of the conveyor.
9. Installation according to Claim 8, comprising various installations according to one of Claims 3-7 arranged alongside one another.
10. A method for inserting information carriers into a substrate as-claimed in claim 1, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
11. installation or apparatus for placing information carriers in a substrate, such as the soil of pot plants, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.